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The wine industry assesses the economic situation for 2022 positively, but cost increases and supply chain disruptions are perceived as a threat. This is shown by a survey of 1,333 wine producers, 1,547 traders and restaurateurs from 48 countries conducted by Geisenheim University on behalf of ProWein in November. 69 percent of the respondents see price increases for energy and glass, for example, as the greatest threat, 59 percent fear interruptions in the supply chains and 36 percent fear EU health policy with impending restrictions. Only three percent of the study participants fear competition from soft drugs such as cannabis, 16 percent from low-alcohol or alcohol-free wines.
Climate change and stricter environmental regulations, on the other hand, concern producers significantly more than the trade. For both segments, declining wine consumption and trade wars are currently the least of the threats.
Producers are quite positive about the economic situation in 2022. It is currently much better than expected in 2021, with Spanish and Italian wine producers being the most optimistic about the time after the pandemic.
Respondents agreed that the wine industry should focus more on sustainable production and reduce carbon emissions. They ranked economic sustainability as the most important, because only long-term economic sustainability enables a company to contribute to environmental and social sustainability.
64 percent of the wineries had reduced the use of herbicides and promoted biodiversity in 2021. 50 per cent minimised the use of pesticides, 30 per cent reduced water consumption. Digital technologies for the optimal dosage of water, fertilisers and herbicides are not yet widespread because of the high investment costs. New World countries (Australia 50 percent, USA and South Africa 33 percent each) use them more than European countries (Spain and Italy 22 percent each, France and Portugal 17 percent each, Germany 11 percent).
In the New World and outside the major wine-growing countries of Europe, the willingness to use alternative packaging (lightweight glass, cardboard) is higher than in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
(al / Source: ProWein Business Report 2021; Photo: Prowein ctillmann)
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